£72m damages for US car crash family

A US jury has awarded the family of a seven-year-old girl paralysed in a car crash caused by a drunken football fan £72 million ($135 million).

Ronald and Fazila Verni were on their way home from a pumpkin-picking trip in 1999 with their two-year-old daughter Antonia, when their car was struck by a truck driven by Daniel Lanzaro, 34.

Antonia was paralysed from the neck down.

Lanzaro, who was more than twice the legal alcohol limit, had bribed vendors at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, to sell him beers over the stipulated limit during a game.

A Newark court found the stadium vendor liable for £40 million ($75 million) of the damages.

A spokesperson from the Philadelphia-based company, Aramark, declined to comment on the award but said it would be appealing.

Compensatory damages of £32 million ($60 million) were assessed equally against Lanzaro and Aramark. Combined, it is largest alcohol liability award handed down in the United States for at least 25 years.

Lanzaro is serving a five-year prison term for vehicular assault.

Mr Verni said that until now he and his wife, also injured in the accident, had provided their daughter with round-the-clock care.

"Hopefully she'll be able to get the care she needs and deserves," he said, choking back tears.

"Hopefully she'll be able to enjoy some of the things she wouldn't have been able to enjoy."

The family sued Aramark, claiming vendors sold beers to Lanzaro even though he was clearly drunk and that the company fostered an atmosphere of

drinking.

They also sued the National Football League, the Giants and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, but the claims were dismissed.

The NFL, which forbids beer sales after the third quarter, refused to comment on whether it was considering changing its stadium alcohol policies.

The Giants Stadium also only allows customers to buy two beers at a time - a rule Lanzaro sidestepped by tipping the vendor £5 ($10), allowing him to buy six beers.

In a statement, the Giants said, "No words can express the sorrow we feel for what the Verni family has gone through. We believe that Aramark has the right alcohol policies in place and will take the necessary and appropriate steps to enforce those policies."